


Coping Mechanisms

by ShadowOfTheNight



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Aftercare, Coping, Dom/sub, Light BDSM, M/M, Orgasm, Spanking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-11
Updated: 2017-01-11
Packaged: 2018-09-16 20:04:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9287720
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadowOfTheNight/pseuds/ShadowOfTheNight
Summary: Lavellan was having a difficult time coping after the incident in the Fade.  Iron Bull helps get his kadan feeling again





	

**Author's Note:**

> This was literally written for me to come to terms with what happened because I have been unable to play this character since the portion at Adamant. I played this part late at night and ended up having some nightmares, so this was as much for my benefit as my characters. If you enjoy it, great. If its not your thing then by all means the back button is right up top.

Lor’theras was not coping well. He flitted around Skyhold like a man lost without meaning.  He ate alone in his room, when he ate at all.  Hard to eat when even the best food tasted of ash and dust and the Fade.

He gathered his advisors and set them on their missions but for several weeks he did not set foot out of Skyhold himself.  He always looked as if he were to leave, but then his footsteps would carry him back.  Back to the stairs, back to his room.

He spent some time speaking with Dorian and Cole.  But when he came away from both of these meetings his deep reddish-brown skin came off pale and ashen.  He frequently forgot the makeup that he always wore, and even when he did, it came smudged and distressed.

Near the end of the second week, Lor’theras decided that he’d had enough.  He needed to feel like a person again.  

There was only one person who could do that.  Someone he’d been avoiding since the incident after the Fade.

Bull.

Lor’theras contemplated on how to approach his beloved, when the decision was made for him.  He’d made it back to his room, after another hollow day of sending people out on missions, to find Bull sitting on his bed, expression grave.

“Kadan, we need to talk.”

The elven mage stopped dead in his tracks and started to inch backwards.  “A-about what, Bull?”

“About how you’ve been avoiding me.  About how you’ve been wanting to ask me something but haven’t done it yet.” Bull patted the bed. “Come here, Kadan.  Talk to me.”

He grimaced and picked his way over to the spot next to Bull.  “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologise, just tell me what you need.”  Bull sighed and then tilted his head a little. “Oh.  Oh, I see now.”

He twisted the hem of his tunic in his hands and said in a very small voice.  “I need to feel like a person again.  I can’t feel anything but this crushing numbness and I _hate_ it.  Help me, ma vhenan.”

There was a long period of silence from Bull before, “Tell me the watchword.”

Relief flooded through Lor’theras and it was the first bit of feeling he’d had since the Fade, “Katoh.”

Bull’s hand cupped his face and drew him in for a kiss, “Promise me that you’ll use it if this is too much.”

“I promise.”

“Say it again, Kadan.  Let it roll off you lips so that you’ll remember.” Bull tilted his head to the side and watched.

“Katoh.  I’ll remember.  I promise.”

“Good.” Bull growled and then hauled the elf down into his lap by the shirt.  “No noise from you until I tell you.”

Lor’theras nodded and pressed his lips together in anticipation of what was to come. He pressed his face into the bed and almost whimpered when he felt his trousers being slid off of him.  The cool air of his room raised goosebumps, or was that the anticipation?  Silence, stillness, and then _whap_.  Bull’s hand cracked him on the ass.

That almost startled a cry out of him but he bit his lip and swallowed his sounds.  He could feel his cock filling, pressing against the rough canvas of Bull’s trousers, even as the Qunari laid into him with a rhythm that made him want to weep and scream and rut. His hips twisted and moved, seeming of their own accord.

“Be still.  If you can’t stay still I’ll have to tie you up.”

Lor’theras whimpered into the coverlet and tried his best to not move as he could feel each crack of Bull’s hand worse than the last. He wanted so much to to cry out, to moan, to tell Bull exactly how he felt, ass on fire like he could almost _feel_ again.

Hours it felt like, til he heard a single, low, rumbling word.  “Move.” And he sobbed with relief, tears streaming down his face and he twisted and writhed in the lap of the big Qunari. Bull never stopped his steady rhythm and Lor’theras both hated and loved him in that moment.  After that command it did not take long for the elf to spill himself all over Bull’s pants leg and when he did the spanking stopped… but not his sobbing.

“That’s it, Kadan.  Let it out.  Let it out.”  Bull shifted so he could lay down and spoon up against his elf’s back.  “I’ve got you.”

Lor’theras had no words.  All he could do was sob and twist and shake until the tears finally subsided. He still shook like a leaf but he at last was able to find the words. Words he needed to say.  “Thank you,” he sniffled, grimacing at the mess he’d made of his face. “I’m sorry you had to be in the Fade with me. I’m sorry I took you there.”

“Its all right.  I’m here.  We made it back.  We’re all alive and _safe_ and it's because of you.”

Lor’theras did not say anything for a few moments after that.

“Are you all right now, Kadan?”  Bull shifted behind him, “Let me go to the table and get you a washcloth and some cool water for your face, okay?”

“Yeah, Bull.  That’s good.  I’m good.”  He took a deep breath and realized that he was, indeed, okay.  The horrors of the Fade still clawed at the outside edges of his memory but he could think, he could talk about it… and most importantly, he could _feel_.

“Thank you.”

“Anytime, Kadan.”


End file.
